Dave Loustalot of Santa Cruz, left, surveys the land Thursday as caddy for Pat Monahan, second from left, the lead singer of the pop band Train, during this week’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach.
Jim Seimas/Sentinel

PEBBLE BEACH >> Celebrity Pat Monahan, the lead singer of the pop band Train, has a rock star on his bag as he makes his golfing debut at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am this weekend.

“Guys, want to meet Dave Loustalot?” Monahan jokingly asked his entourage Thursday, after he and pro Zac Blair shot 6-under in the first round at Spyglass Hill Golf Course. “He’ll get you in the local paper within a week.”

That was Monahan feigning envy. Yes, I was in picturesque Pebble Beach, where the temperature nearly hit 80, to write about Monahan’s caddie, not Monahan.

Thing is, Loustalot, a 53-year-old insurance broker for ANB in Santa Cruz, is a rock star in the golf community. His family, beginning with his late father, Gary, has run DeLaveaga Golf Course since it opened in 1970. Dave’s brother, Tim, a former PGA Tour player, is now the course’s director of golf.

The Loustalots joked that Dave was the basketball player of the family. Let it be known that Dave never played organized basketball. He’s just not that great at golf.

“I’m the worst golfer in my family,” he said. “It was just a game I played. It was what the family did.”

Loustalot worked for DeLaveaga for 13 years as the head pro. And though he handled the operations side of things instead of golf instruction, he’s more than capable of carrying around a heavy bag for six hours each day this week as Monahan’s caddie.

If Monahan, who carries a 12 handicap, and Blair are both lucky and skilled enough, they’ll be playing Sunday as a team. Loustalot — a golf roadie of sorts (just swap picking up thrown mike stands with raking bunkers) — is hoping to milk this experience for a long as possible.

“This is fantastic,” Loustalot said. “There’s no better place to be at this event than inside the ropes. It’s fun to be in the mix, talk to them, listen to them. As a caddie, you’re the invisible man.”

Jason Kokrak and celebrity Harris Barton, a former lineman for the San Francisco 49ers, round out their foursome. Friday, they tee off from the 10th tee at Monterey Peninsula Country Club at 8:55 a.m.

While Monahan, 48, has been playing golf for years, he hasn’t played in any tournaments this size. Each year, he plays in actor/comedian George Lopez’s charity event. But the Pro-Am this week is substantially bigger and, for players like Monahan, traumatizing.

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While Monahan is comfortable belting out lyrics in front of thousands upon thousands of adoring fans, nerves get the best of him when he’s trying to belt a little dimpled ball in front of a gallery.

Loustalot, who is caddying in his fifth PGA Tour event, knows his role. In addition to informing Monahan of distances on each shot or helping read the greens, he’s offering advice for club selection and keeping his new boss at ease and enjoying the moment.

“Being a caddie is more than carrying clubs,” Loustalot said. “You’re a physiatrist, a therapist, you’re everything. It’s his first time playing in this event, so he’s nervous. I’m trying to keep him calm without making him realize how nervous he is.”

Monahan knew. “I need a drink,” might have been his most used line.

Loustalot was hooked up with the gig by longtime friend Steve John, a former Aptos resident who serves as CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation. The foundation puts on the Pro-Am to raise money to “power positive community change across Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties,” according to its website. Loustalot texted John, offering his services, and two months back, John made the pairing. Loustalot and Monahan have maintained dialogue since, first meeting in person when Loustalot picked the musician up from the airport Monday.

“He’s great, he’s helped me a lot,” Monahan said. “And Zac’s dad just helped me. Golf is such a hard game. You know what makes it hard is you want to be good at it. Like, if you didn’t care — but not to tattle — but Harris had a cocktail on like 15. And he birdied the last hole. I needed a cocktail on 14.”

Monahan hinted at partying like a rock star this week. Among his plans: heckling actor/comedian Ray Romano, who is staying in the room next to him at Pebble Beach.

“I’m going to be pretending like I’m having sex next door, banging his walls. Like ‘Yes, baby! Yes!’” Monahan said, laughing hysterically.

Like Loustalot, Monahan knows his place, too. Some fans tried to cajole the musician into playing one of two guitars hooked to an amplifier between holes Nos. 15 and 16. Monahan declined. He didn’t want to disturb the golfers trying to earn a paycheck. He did however sign autographs for some fans and pose for photographs.

On No. 16, Monahan sliced into a forest of cypress trees with no window for escape. Somehow, he did, though, hitting the ball safely back to the fairway.

“He’s not just a musician, he’s a magician,” Loustalot yelled to the gallery.

While Monahan couldn’t decide which of his songs best described his golf game, he said singer Kendrick Lamar’s “Fear” does. Loustalot, an avid Train fan, is hoping to minimize that emotion this week.

He’s also hoping to be at Train’s concert with Hall and Oates at SAP Center in San Jose on May 4.

“Am going to try and finagle tickets? Hell yeah!” Loustalot said. “I’m going to take every advantage I can from this newfound friendship.

“Thing is, he’s really a funny guy.”

And by the end of the week, Loustalot will have him putting like a rock star.